US drilling rig count down 7 units to 1,762

May 24, 2013
The US drilling rig count was down 7 units during the week ended May 24, reaching a total of 1,762 rotary rigs working, Baker Hughes Inc. reported.

The US drilling rig count was down 7 units during the week ended May 24, reaching a total of 1,762 rotary rigs working, Baker Hughes Inc. reported.

Land-based drilling declined 8 units from a week ago to 1,685 rigs working. The offshore count lost 1 unit to 51, while inland water drilling reached 26, up 2 units. Of the rigs drilling offshore, 48 were in the Gulf of Mexico, down 1 unit from a week ago.

Rigs drilling for oil fell by 6 units to 1,402, while those targeting gas were unchanged this week at 354 rigs working. Six rigs were considered unclassified, a decline of 1 unit from a week ago.

Rigs drilling horizontally were reported at 1,087, down 9 units from a week ago, and 104 fewer than the comparable week last year. Rigs drilling directionally gained 7 units to 218. This compared with 222 rigs working horizontally in the comparable week a year ago.

Of the major oil and gas producing states, North Dakota and Colorado lost 5 units each to reach respective counts of 174 and 57. Alaska was down 3 rigs to 6. Oklahoma and Ohio, at 186 and 32, respectively, were down 1 rig each. Four states were unchanged this week: New Mexico, 75; California, 41; West Virginia, 23; and Arkansas, 15. Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and Wyoming climbed 1 rig each to respective counts of 107, 58, and 44. Texas climbed 3 units to reach 840 rigs working.

Canada’s rig count was up 8 rigs this week to 131. This count includes 75 rigs drilling for oil (up 5 units from a week ago) and 56 units drilling for gas (up 3 units from last week). The total was down 27 units from the comparable week last year.